Reds at Braves (April 25, 2014)

Oh how I strongly dislike you Atlanta Braves. I would say hate, but that feeling is reserved more for the Cardinals of St. Louis. So I’ll just stick with strongly dislike. Growing up in Southwest Virginia, many baseball fans jumped on the Braves bandwagon in the 90s mainly due to the fact that it was the only team you could really watch regularly on television. Not many people seemed to be fans in the 1980s when the Braves were terrible, but then suddenly Braves fans came climbing out of every nook and cranny during the 1990s. I guess pulling for a winner is easier than a loser. Trust me, it hasn’t always been easy pulling for the teams that I do.

So with that said, I would love nothing more than to see the Reds march their way into Atlanta and take this series. Two out of three would be great, but waiving the brooms around on Sunday would be mighty nice as well. But let me not get ahead of myself. The Reds need to win tonight to get that ball rolling.

When Homer wins 5 straight and two of those games are complete gems, the same people complaining now will be the same ones saying he is the greatest in the world. Homer is a very good pitcher, he is not Johnny Cueto.

Indeed he is and you are correct – he is no Cueto – maybe expectations are too high, but he needs to give the Reds a better effort than what he is currently managing to do – seems to me he is much more hittable right now – his fastball is just sitting there in the zone with a neon sign flashing “HIT ME PLEASE” – has zero movement , zero!

Bailey is at his best when he gets his other stuff over. Any major league hitter can hit a fastball when they are looking for it. His breaking ball is not consistent, just like Hoover’s. I suspect you will see Bailey find it as it gets warmer. And maybe he is feeling a little pressure to justify his salary, this happens sometimes.

Yeah, I hate those people. But they won’t post when Homer turns it around, they disappear when things go well. It’s why gamethread counts are so high for losses and low for wins.

You can generally tell who they are because somewhere in the text of their posts contains a phrase of “100 million man” because for some reason they feel like Homer’s contract was paid for with their own personal money.

I see your point but some fellows just run hold and cold. Sometimes that is the only separation between very good and great. The Reds don’t need Homer to be the #1, 2 or even the 3 guy, with the other guys in the rotation. If he ends up being a great #4 on a great starting rotation, that works. Forget the money, it’s already been spent.

Sounds like Billy Ham was at it again Charlotte (drove the bus for a while) – showed some real impetus for the team to follow – now they just have to get over the hump (which I believe in time they will). And Homer is a stud – going on record that he will eventually turn it around – sooner than later.

That guy just rings my bell. Did you see the attempt to catch that double in “leftfield”? The Braves TV announcers just laughed in amazement. I’m praying that Price pulled Billy for some very minor injury or else, he has some explaining to do. Steve said Doug Gray indicated BHam may have been limping after the double.

Billy is one of a kind. What a gem that young man is. Your comparison to Pete is insightful too. The 2014Reds have a lot of fight in them and one heck of a starting rotation. I like what I’m seeing.

This is the dumbest team in baseball in all facets, from Walt to Dusty errrrrr Price, to the 3rd base coach. Most games I wind up considering a waste of my life yet I keep coming back. I’m a masochist.

Only agree about the 3B coach as the job is definitely too much for him to handle. He really needs to be replaced as the season progresses – but outside of a few dinged up players this team can still play with the best of them. Saturday and Sunday’s games should be a lot of fun.

Its easy to forget that after the first few innings of the game it looked like you could chalk this game up as a loss for the Reds. But by the 9th inning the Reds came razor thin close to tying the game up against one of the best closers in baseball. It was a frustrating loss to be sure, but if the Reds keep scoring runs like they are now, especially after it looked like it was “game over” after the third inning, I expect the Reds will be in the hunt for a division championship. Fingers crossed that Mesoraco will not be out for a long period of time. I expect the Reds to get some payback and win tomorrows game. Go Reds! Adios Amigos.